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Wal-Mart

November 13, 2007

Wal-Mart reported an almost 8% in net profit for the third quarter on a comp-store sales increase of 1.5%. While most of us either don't care about Wal-Mart's performance or we're rooting for them to do poorly, good news from Wal-Mart helps the press shift away from the doom and gloom holiday stories.

It's clear that they are giving up on their quest to move up-market to a more affluent customer and are focused on doing what they do well. For most of readers of this blog that's a good thing since you serve that more affluent customer base.

September 13, 2007

On Wednesday Wal-Mart announced they are replacing their slogan of 19 years "Always Low Prices" with “Save Money. Live Better.”

As a Retail Contrarian I figured it is my duty to explain why this is a bad move. As I thought about the slogan change an ugly argument broke out in my head. (This is something that happens more often than I like to admit.) Here's how the argument went.The voice for the new slogan said this. "It's a great new slog. Over the last two years Wal-Mart has been working on upgrading their image as they (attempt to) move up market to a more affluent customer. The "live better" speaks to both new and old customers alike.

For the traditional Wal-Mart customer the "live better" means that with the money they save shopping at Wal-Mart they truly can provide a higher quality of life for their families. Wal-Mart research shows that the average American family saves $2,500 a year by shopping there. For many families that's a huge impact on their lives. For the targeted more affluent customer, the "live better" reminds them that Wal-Mart has more than just low prices. It's telling those customers that they now offer higher quality products that meets their lifestyle. And hey, who doesn't like saving money?"

The voice against the change said this. "That's hogwash. (That's from my midwest roots.) What the slogan is really saying is, "We're not Target, but we really want to be more like them." The "live better" is a ploy to say they're more like Target now and not like the Wal-Mart of old. But, this new strategy isn't working. Sam Walton's mission was to offer low prices to the working families of America. This going up market to satisfy Wall Street just moves them further away from Sam's vision. Stick to saving people money and quit acting like something you're not."

As you can see, the argument in my head went nowhere.

Luckily the voice of reason stepped in and said this."Guys, guys. Really, who cares? They can change the slogan to "Almost Everything Is Free" and you're still not going to shop there. I'm not a Wal-Mart basher. They do a great job for their targeted customer segment. I just think they want to be Target.....and they're not Target."

I'm happy with Costco , Whole Foods, Target, Amazon.com, and the specialty stores in my area. I'm not your customer, and I don't need you to "live better". You see to me living better means more than just low prices...... It's All About The Experience. Now THAT'S a good slogan!